


Time Upon a Time

by I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, M/M, Non-Graphic Rape, Off-screen Rape, Organ Damage, Suitless Vader, internal bleeding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-21 01:11:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11346879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning/pseuds/I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning
Summary: Vader has unexpected visitors.He's not sure if they're unwelcome.





	Time Upon a Time

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Anathema](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6329893) by [Poplitealqueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poplitealqueen/pseuds/Poplitealqueen). 



 

The moment they appeared, Vader realized he was glad he'd chosen to wear his helmet today.

They looked like they'd sprung straight out of his memories— and maybe they had. He'd been messing with ancient Sith lore without the guidance of Sidious, since his master kept deferring him.

If the one embodying power would not teach it, then the one craving it would learn on his own.

The older of the two still looked almost like a child, his young face twisted in confusion and fear as he herded his smaller companion behind his back and lit his lightsaber.

“What brings you to Mustafar?” Vader asked.

The interlopers stared at him. “ _ Mustafar _ ?” Obi-Wan repeated, sounding baffled. “Where is that?”

A choked laugh escaped the Sith. “Where were you a minute ago?”  
“My Padawan's quarters.”  
_ Yes. And now he lives here.  _ “What did you do?”

“Nothing I'm aware of.” Obi-Wan's eyes darted around, searching for allies, for more foes, for a way out—

“There is no escape, little Jedi. Search the Force. You'll find you're the last one left.”

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed, but he didn't obey. “In the blink of an eye you killed us all?”

“Remarkably close to the truth. I am left wondering  _ why  _ you are here.”

“The thirst for explanation is mutual.”

_ Listen to him. _

The fancy words, the controlled bearing, all the things that made him  _ think  _ he was worth  _ so much— _

Fury flooded Vader's veins, cold and cruel. Obi-Wan had eluded his grasp, was  _ missing  _ somewhere, and there was nothing he could do to make him  _ pay  _ for his betrayal, pay for his  _ smug arrogance— _

But  _ this  _ one was within reach.

Vader's fingers twitched at his side and Obi-Wan's face drained of color. In a moment, he lost his grip on his saber, fist pressing against his chest, struggling against pain as Vader squeezed his heart.

_ And I will, until it oozes out between invisible fingers. _

But it wasn't enough. 

Look at him, a second ago so  _ ready to fight,  _ and now so  _ weak,  _ so full of delicate parts that couldn't be harmed too much, or—

Obi-Wan gagged on blood as the Sith Lord crushed and tore his internal organs. He would have fallen if Vader hadn't kept him upright with the Force.

The pain, the fear, the desperation—

They sang to Vader's soul, he wanted  _ more— _

“Please!  _ Please  _ don't hurt him!”  
The voice was shrill. Small. Radiating terror and grief.

Vader ignored it.

And then the small form crumpled to its knees. “Please,” he begged.

Disgust for the weakness that would kneel and beg like a whimpering animal welled up in Vader's soul along with something that shouldn't be there, something that  _ hurt— _

“You're killing him! Kill me instead, I'm much less valuable—”

Vader dropped Obi-Wan as if stung. Hearing his former master's ragged gasps for air, choking on the damage that had been inflicted felt  _ right. _

Hearing Anakin's sobbing voice, realizing the child had knelt by  _ choice,  _ had  _ begged— _

That felt—

_ I made him a slave again. _

Vader wasn't sure how to handle that. So instead of doing anything, he reached down and grabbed a fistful of the back of Obi-Wan's tunic, dragging him across the grated floors down to the cell area.

The terrified child trailed after them.

Vader dropped Obi-Wan in the center of the cell, sent a vicious kick into the Jedi's gut, and left, locking the two in, disgruntled by how what felt  _ right  _ now felt  _ wrong. _

 

* * *

 

Obi-Wan lay on the shelf, shivering, sweat beading his brow. Breathing was a shallow, difficult affair and—

Anakin stroked his forehead with a little hand, his worry a loud lament through the Force.

Obi-Wan tried to heal, but it wasn't... working...

“How can I help you?” Anakin pleaded.

Obi-Wan gave him a shaky smile, clasping one small hand tight in his own. “You're doing well, Anakin. What you're doing is perfect. Just sit with me.”

“Are we going to die, Master?”

The thought tore at Obi-Wan's heart.

Ten years old.

Too young. Far too young to die horribly at the hands of a Sith.

“I don't know, Anakin. But do you know what is more important than whether we survive or not?”

The boy shook his head.

“Staying true to ourselves, no matter what happens. No matter what you see, no matter what they do, stay true to yourself, Anakin.”

“Yes, Master.”  
“That's my Padawan,” Obi-Wan murmured, losing himself to shivers, sweat beading his brow as he fought pain and the terrible sensation of so many things  _ not right  _ inside his body.

Not right.

Dear Force, not right.

_ Don't let me leave Anakin all alone in this terrible place. Please don't— _

_Spare my Padawan._

 

* * *

 

They weren't ready.

When Vader came to drag Obi-Wan away and leave Anakin behind, neither were ready for it. The child pleaded, the older child tried to fight Vader off—

Too wounded to succeed he fell still, looking to the younger. “Remember what I said, Anakin.  _ Remember— _ ”

“I'm bringing him back,” Vader grumbled. “Most likely.”

“Master—  _ Dad! _ ”

“It's alright, Anakin!” Obi-Wan called back. “I love you—”

Vader snorted. “We both know  _ that's  _ not true.”  
Obi-Wan didn't argue.

_ Staying alive is more important than his ego, since he's unwilling to leave the child to face me alone. _

“Worried I'll steal your apprentice from you? Teach him  _ real  _ power? Teach him he doesn't need you?”

Still, the silence.

Vader shoved him through a doorway, and as Obi-Wan saw the bed, he turned with terrified eyes—

“That advice you gave your apprentice— to stay true to himself? He followed it.”  
Obi-Wan glared at him, trying so desperately to be brave—

_ How did he ever seem invincible to me? _

Vader let loose the shields, let Obi-Wan  _ see  _ who he was.

Who he had been.

Obi-Wan let out a strangled cry, falling to his knees in agony.

“You love me?” Vader challenged, pulling the helmet from his head to reveal his face, his hate-filled golden eyes. “Prove it.”

 

* * *

 

“Master.”

The tiny voice cut through the fog that had surrounded Obi-Wan since the Sith had held him down and used him, then cast him aside with disgust.

Desire to dominate and inflict pain and humiliation had given way to revulsion.

_ “Did Qui-Gon frip you? Right before your return to Naboo? Is that why he threw you away for me? He took what you had to offer, realized it wasn't much, and moved on since you had nothing left to give?” _

What could possibly have changed his precious Padawan into a man willing to frip into a dying man, to inflict such pain of body and soul on an individual already mortally suffering?

He didn't dare meet Anakin's gaze, for fear the boy would recognize the dead emptiness in his eyes. That the child of slavery would  _ know _ what had been done to him.

Would end up even more afraid.

He couldn't shield his little one from much harm, here, but what burdens he  _ could  _ carry for him he  _ would,  _ right until his last, rattling breath.

“He's me, isn't he.”  
In horrified shock, Obi-Wan met Anakin's tear-filled gaze.

“I could feel it. I could—” the child's voice died in a sob, and Obi-Wan dragged him into his arms, holding him close.

“No,” Obi-Wan murmured, diaphragm hurting too much to speak any louder. “He is a different you. You are  _ not  _ responsible for anything he does to us.”

“But that's who I'll grow up to be. I'll grow up to kill you, to hurt you like Gardulla's guards hurt the young dancers at night—”

So he'd seen the signs and known.

Obi-Wan held him tighter. “ _ No.  _ You choose who you become. If you choose to  _ not  _ be him, you  _ won't. _ ”

“But we've  _ seen  _ him and he's going to  _ kill you— _ ”

Obi-Wan leaned his head against his Padawan's. “If that happens, I need you to be brave, and true to yourself. Don't let him make you into him. I believe in you. You are worth fighting for, Anakin.”

“I can't protect you.”

Obi-Wan felt something shift within, knew his time was up.

“I will always be with you,” he whispered, gently caressing Anakin's cheek with shaking fingers. “My brave, kind Anakin.”

“Please  _ no— _ ”

“Do not despair.” Obi-Wan's hand fell from his cheek, darkness closed over him even though his eyes were still open—

He could hear Anakin's sobs, his own harsh rasps—

He convulsed once, threw up blood—

And then Death was there, pressing her cold kiss to the back of his hand, claiming him for her own, taking his pain and final breath both in that one caress.

 

* * *

 

“Dad?” Anakin whispered. “ _ Dad! _ ” He shook Obi-Wan's shoulder, but the glassy eyes didn't see him.

He heard the door open and spun around in terror, afraid Vader would do to  _ him  _ what he'd done to Obi-Wan—

And found an old man standing there.

“I need you to come with me,” he said, voice compassionate and sorrowful. “Will you trust me, Anakin?”

Anakin's head swiveled back to his dead master, because his heart was telling him— “Can we bring him?”

“Yes.” The old man gathered the body up over his shoulder and held out a hand to Anakin. “We must run now.”

Anakin nodded and followed without question.

 

* * *

 

The ship was small.

The old man had barely dumped the body on the floor before he'd been in the pilot's seat and escaping through the murky atmosphere to the bright stars of hyperspace.

Anakin crouched by Obi-Wan's side, too afraid to feel his usual awe at the blue-white streaks outside the front viewport.

The old man gathered the corpse up, more reverently this time, and carried it into the tiny cabin in the back of the ship. He laid it on the bed, then stood, staring down at it.

“Would you give me a moment, Anakin?”  
Anakin retreated, but didn't fully close the door. Instead he stood, peering through the small crack, hardly daring to breathe.

The old man gently closed the blankly staring eyes, placed a hand on the still chest and bowed his head. A heavy sigh escaped him. And then he caught sight of the blood staining the tan of the cloth around Obi-Wan's legs.

The old man moved fast, fear spilling off of him as he turned the body and pulled down the waistband. He fell back with something akin to a whimper, fist pressed to his mouth.

It didn't feel right.

Anakin pushed his way back into the room to place himself between his dead master and the old man, struggling to cover him up again—

The old man helped in silence.

“You're him,” Anakin asserted, careful to keep himself between them even now, and the old man retreated a few steps in silence. “The way I'm  _ him _ , you're... Obi-Wan.”

“The man holding you captive, his name is Vader. And yes. I am a Obi-Wan.”

“ _ A _ ? Why are there more than one of us?”

“I have a friend who sees things because he's invisible. He saw Vader do something terrible. He pulled phantoms from his memory and gave them form.”

“That's—  _ us _ ?” Anakin squeaked. “We're not  _ real _ ?”

“You are real. That is what is so cruel to the two of you.”

“I— I have to live here, then?” Anakin's voice wavered. “I can't go back?”  
The other Obi-Wan's expression was compassionate. “There is no back to go to.” He knelt, looked up into the young face. “You will always have a place with me until you have some other place to go. You'll stay with us.”  
A soft glow seemed to surround the old Obi-Wan, not as though originating from his skin. Instead, it seemed to be wrapping him close and caressing him.

“What is that?” Anakin asked, still so afraid.

“Qui-Gon, Ani,” a once-dead—  _ still dead?  _ Anakin wondered— voice murmured. “I'm sorry this has happened to you.”

“If  _ you're  _ here, Mister Qui-Gon, Sir, can—?” Anakin looked back to the broken body on the bed.

“I'm afraid not, Anakin,” Qui-Gon said gently. “He is at peace.”

“Does he know I'm in trouble?”

“Not anymore. He is the stars, and the grass, the sunrise, and the air you breathe, but his time is over, while yours is not.”

Tears filled Anakin's eyes again and he squeezed his eyelids shut. He felt so  _ alone— _

Kind arms, if far more worn than he was used to, wrapped around him, holding him tight to a steady-beating heart.

“Precious one,” his new Obi-Wan whispered. “I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.”

Anakin clung to him and sobbed.

Obi-Wan held him and wept.

 

 


End file.
